These were tasted at The Book Kitchen Restaurant in Surry Hills. Most dishes are available in entree and main course size, so most of us opted for 4-5 entree sized courses so that we could try a wide variety. Some dishes were excellent, while others lacked flavour. The service quality was also rather inconsistent. I will return, but hopefully these problems have been ironed out by then.

1996 Egly-Ouriet Champagne Grand Cru Brut Millésimé
Disgorged September 2004. Brioche, orange peel and lemon aromas. Long, bold and full flavoured palate, with some acidity in the background keeping it from being too full-on. Absolutely delicious. Much less advanced that a bottle had in the last couple of years that was great but not as fresh.93/100

1996 Ruinart Champagne Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru
Citrus, earthy and a touch floral. Medium bodied with good acidity. Very good, but desperately needs time to develop and soften.89/100

1982 Ployez-Jacquemart Champagne Liesse d’Harbonville Blanc de Blancs
Pears, floral notes and a touch of toast. Deliciously fresh and fluffy palate. Amazingly youthful. this has lots of life ahead of it based on this bottle.90/100

1979 Lanson Champagne Noble Cuvée
Honey, pine nuts and toast on the nose. Excellent complexity on the palate. Great length and balance. At its peak.92/100

1995 Moët & Chandon Champagne Dom Perignon Rosé
Delicate nose of cherry and strawberries. The palate has good body and the flavours carry into a good length finish. Very good, but it just didn’t thrill me.90/100

1999 Bollinger Coteaux Champenois La Côte aux Enfants
Still Pinot Noir from Champagne. Black cherry, raspberry, stalks, candied aromas and a touch of pepper. Sweetly fruited, soft palate. Starting to show some signs of development, but most of the flavours are primary still. I’m glad to have tried it once, but it was interesting rather than great.88/100

1997 Domaine Robert Arnoux Grand Cru Clos Vougeot
Raspberry, earth and some VA. Fruit is thin on the palate and the oak and tannins stand out.84/100

1991 Michel Lafarge Beaune 1er Cru Grèves
Corked.NR/100

2002 Domaine Meo Camuzet Grand Cru Clos Vougeot
This just kept getting better the longer it was left in my glass. Aromas of raspberry, red cherry, earth and pretty lifted floral notes. The palate is long, intense and has excellent structure. This was a standout among the Burgundies on the night and will only get better over the next 10+ years.93/100

2004 Domaine Leroy Bourgogne
The nose is reminiscent of cool climate Shiraz rather than Pinot, with black pepper, cherry, lifted florals and mixed spices. An intense palate, dense and spicy. This is an enjoyable wine if you don’t mind that it may be hard to identify as Pinot.89/100

1998 Domaine Marquis d’Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs
Dark chocolate, cherry and boot polish on the nose. Good texture and length on the palate. Quite elegant and silky. Drinking pretty well right now and while it won’t fall over soon, I don’t know that there would be much more improvement to expect.90/100

2000 Geantet-Pansiot Grand Cru Charmes-Chambertin
Initially beetroot and milk chocolate aromas with bacon and sausage dominating after some time in the glass. Palate is medium bodied but there is a touch of sourness that also grew the longer the wine was left. A shame as it was very nice when poured.83/100

1985 Lake’s Folly Cabernet
Amazing floral notes for the age, backed by tobacco, leather and redcurrants. The palate is youthful and shows plenty of softly sweet fruit balanced by savoury characters. Grew in stature and intensity as it was left in the glass, the last sip was the best. Just a touch behind a stunning 1987 recently, but extremely good anyway.92/100

N.V. Jacques Selosse Champagne Cuvée Exquise
Very doughy aromas with quince, apple and honey as well. The palate is not as sweet as I expected, to me it was much more subtle and along the lines of an off-dry style with great balancing acidity. Interesting and very good.91/100